Can a better bra improve the odds that an underprivileged woman will find success on the job market?

Alicia Vargo, owner of the well-known Pampered Passions Fine Lingerie store in Englewood, Co., thinks so, and she’s on a personal mission to prove it. And if she’s right, hundreds of women across the U.S. will benefit.

Vargo next month will begin a five-city national tour to offer free bra-fitting and fine French lingerie pieces to underprivileged women who lack the resources to upgrade this essential part of their wardrode.

Vargo’s initiative is called “Alicia’s Bras For Success“, and it’s being organized in partnership with the international non-profit group Dress For Success, which provides wardrobe and career supports for lower-income women trying to find work or advance their careers. Vargo’s idea is that a decent, proper-fitting bra will help any woman feel more confident and comfortable during job interviews.

“Women from all backgrounds should have the opportunity to feel poised and self-assured underneath their professional attire, and organizations like Dress for Success and support for these events make it possible,” says Vargo. “It’s inspiring to see these women feel and look their best, and ready to start their futures.”

Vargo (that’s her on the right, doing a fitting) will kick off her Bras For Success tour in New York on Aug. 11 at the Dress For Success headquarters. She expects to fit new bras for up to 100 women at each tour stop, and here’s the best part — participants will leave with a new Simone Pérèle bra, after the French luxury label volunteered to contribute more than 1,000 bras to this worthy cause.

Vargo and her team will also visit Seattle, Colorado Springs, Denver and one other city TBD. You can get more details at the Pampered Passions website.

And Vargo is not stopping there. She has longer range plans to expand the initiative in future years, visiting more cities both in the U.S. and abroad, in the hope of reaching thousands of women.

The Bras For Success tour is just the sort of grassroots initiative that the charitable group Dress For Success depends on. The group aims to support women’s economic independence by providing business wear (plus a range of career guidance supports) to women who are referred to the program. Since its launch in 1997, Dress For Success has helped more than 550,000 women in 9 countries work towards self-sufficiency.